Stiff preferment
Biga Pizza Dough Calculator
Use this biga pizza dough calculator to build a stiff preferment while controlling the finished dough hydration. Change the percentage of flour in the biga, its hydration and the final dough target; the remaining flour and water are calculated automatically.
Calculate your doughYour dough
Set the formula
Preferment: Biga
1 Batch and timing
Advanced recipe settingsHydration, salt and preferment percentages
Calculated recipe
Mix in two stages
Stage one
Make the biga — 16 hours before the final mix
- Flour
- 614g
- Water
- 276g
- Instant yeast
- 6.1g
Stage two
Complete the dough
- Remaining flour
- 0g
- Remaining water
- 129g
- Salt
- 15g
Check the dough, not only the clock. The time shown is your planning input. Flour, yeast condition and temperature determine when the preferment is actually ready.
Matched to your plan
Equipment and ingredients for this bake
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Choose your oven type to see products matched to this batch.
Use the numbers well
Biga hydration and total hydration are different
Practical guidance for this method
A 100% biga formula leaves no flour for the final mix; that is expected. Reduce the prefermented-flour setting if your method uses only part of the flour in the biga.
Need a different style or raising agent? The pizza dough calculator combines all standard presets with a dated fermentation plan and equipment advice.
Related calculators
Choose the method you are actually making
Method sources
The defaults are traceable
The starting 100% flour and 45% hydration biga settings follow Gozney's published 100% biga method. Pizza Preacher performs the scaling maths and keeps the controls editable.
Useful answers
Biga calculator questions
What is a 100% biga?
It means all the recipe's flour is fermented in the biga before the final mix. It does not mean the biga contains equal flour and water.
Why is the final dough wetter than the biga?
The biga is deliberately stiff. Additional water in the final mix raises the hydration of the complete dough.